Tribulations of trust
by BurningDownTheHouse
Summary: A newly freed Neo must trust Trinity, sometimes a conversation over dinner is needed to crack the ice. Hopefully eventual NT


_Disclaimer: I do not own the matrix or the characters…I am not making profit from writing this piece of fanfiction._

_I haven't written any Matrix fanfiction in a while, so I'm sorry if this sucks. I also apologize for any typos- my computer fails to notice them._

**Trust**

Tank sat down in his chair, swivelling around to face Neo who was plugged in. Tank looked Neo dead in the eye, telling him seriously, "If there's one thing that you get out of today's session then it should be that you can remember Trinity's number off by heart. She's the one that's gonna help you out if you get in trouble."

Neo looked at the operator a little sceptically, not replying.

"Come on, man, you can trust Trinity, can't you?" Tank tried to inspire some enthusiasm, "She's very reliable, unbelievably talented and drop dead gorgeous, what can't you trust?"

Once again Neo didn't reply, his face showing only mild fear.

"Give me something to work with, dude," Tank practically begged, growing more and more uncomfortable in the current situation.

Neo stammered, "I…I've never really been able to…to trust someone like that."

"Ok, answer me this," Tank said, pausing for a moment as he thought up what he was going to say next before continuing, "Has Trinity been at all negative towards you?"

Neo tried to shake his head, but then remembered the plug and spoke instead, "No…but we haven't really talked or done anything much."

"You just need to trust her, Neo. Do you trust me?"

"To be honest…not really…I can't even trust Morpheus. I've just found out that my whole life has been one big cover up in a fake world. That doesn't really inspire trust in a person like me," Neo answered truthfully and a little arrogantly.

Tank sighed heavily, thinking through how to tackle the problem, before giving up and resigning from the job, "Ok, I'm not going to be able to convince you, man. You're gonna get stuck with Trinity, and I'm gonna make sure of that. Your life might just turn into a living hell."

Neo gulped as Tank unplugged him, giving him a hand off and telling him to get some rest.

Tank headed straight to Morpheus' quarters, knocking on the door and then entering the captain's study.

"Tank, what seems to be the problem?" Morpheus asked slowly, putting down the papers in his hand and turning to face the operator.

"Neo is impossible," Tank stated, getting straight to the point, "He can't trust me, he can't trust you, he won't even trust Trinity."

"Understandable," Morpheus nodded, pausing, "But complicated. Have Trinity come and see me immediately."

"Yes, sir," Tank bowed his head slightly, retreating from the room in search of their second in command.

Trinity entered a few minutes later, "Morpheus, you wanted to speak to me?"

"Come in, Trinity, take a seat," Morpheus beckoned her. He waited until she was seated and paying attention before continuing, "I want you to get to know Neo better, and let him know you. He won't trust anyone, and I reckon that out of all of us you're the most likely to crack him. I want you to take over his training, but remember it must be done efficiently."

"Why can't you get him to trust you or Tank? Why me? Why not Switch or Apoc?" Trinity questioned, raising one eyebrow at her captain accusingly.

Morpheus smiled, "He likes you, Trinity; he has hope rested in you. He will trust you soon, just let it happen."

She sighed heavily, knowing that she could either fight a losing battle or just get on and do the task. "Fine, but don't blame me when your plan backfires."

"Take him dinner and talk to him," Morpheus instructed, ignoring her last comment.

"Am I a house wife now? I had the idea somewhere in my head that I was the second in command of this ship fighting in a war, Morpheus. My idea of battle is not serving food to a newbie." Her tone was harsh and plain, leaving the point clearly open for discussion.

Morpheus, instead of getting locked in another argument, said instead, "He won't be a newbie for long. It would be good for you to socialize with him…I think he may be the one."

"What are you implying?" Her eyes narrowed, as if trying to read his mind.

"I imply nothing, Trinity…just that this situation altogether is rather…fitting."

She scowled, standing and leaving swiftly, knowing exactly what Morpheus was indirectly implying.

Neo sat up as there came a knock on his heavy metal door. He stood, walking over and twisting the wheel, wrenching open the large slab of cool material to reveal Trinity. She stood, holding two trays of food.

She gave him a small smile, "Care if I join you for dinner?"

"Come in," Neo offered, opening the door wider and then shutting it carefully after her.

They sat on the bed next to each other, legs thrown off the side as they each balanced a tray in their lap and ate the goop that was provided as a cheap and nutritious meal.

"How are you finding the real world?" Trinity asked, trying to start a general conversation.

"Different," Neo replied, expanding, "I have to let go of everything I ever believed in and suddenly adjust to this completely different life. I'm used to living in my flat and day after day hacking, working and partying. Here…I don't know…it's just strange."

"It was difficult for me to adjust when I was freed as well. Most people just settle in naturally, but others don't cope so well. We have that in common," Trinity told him, instantly creating a bond with him.

"When were you freed?"

"About ten years ago," Trinity answered, swallowing a mouthful of goop before continuing, "I was about twenty at the time- past the usual cut off age as well. You're meant to be freed by the time you're seventeen latest. We occasionally stretch the mark by a little, but only in extreme circumstances do we over do it by so much as what happened with you and me."

"Why was I freed?"

"Morpheus believes in you, Neo. You're more important than you could ever know. He told you what he thinks…that you're the one?" Trinity checked.

"Yes," Neo nodded, "So why were you freed?"

"Morpheus never thought I was the one, although others did," she smiled, "I'm pretty fast in the matrix and pretty damn good at combat. It turned out, when I went to see the oracle, she told me that I was a key part in the prophesy of the one. It seems that without me we would never have hope of finding the one."

There was a momentary silence before Neo asked, "What did you leave behind in the matrix?"

"I left a lot, Neo, but I think it was worth it," Trinity told him, explaining, "I have three sisters- two older and one younger. When I left, my eldest sister had a little girl- only five at the time. I adored her, and she loved me back…she and my sisters were the only form of hope I had in the world, but even that wasn't enough…it wasn't permanent and wasn't guaranteed."

"Did you ever get to visit your niece again?" Neo asked, seeing that this was obviously a subject close to her heart.

"No," she said softly, "I used to see her every weekend…I even watched her from on board the ship when I was first freed, and it just killed me to see that she knew I wasn't coming back. My sisters searched for me for a while, but the police knew of my identity as a hacker, so just told them that I had registered to leave the country…"

"That's a pretty lame excuse on their behalf…didn't your sisters ever search for you?"

"Yeah, but of course they never found me- me and my dad were the only hackers of the family, and the rest of them knew nothing about it."

"What happened to your parents?" Neo inquired, interested in the story behind this emotionally and physically strong woman.

"Mom died giving birth to my younger sister…dad ended up in jail for cyber crimes." She waited a short while before asking him, "What about your family?"

"They weren't really much of a family. It was just me and my parents, but we lost contact a long time ago. They got divorced when I hit fourteen, and blamed it on me…since then my relationship with them broke off. They both remarried, each had a couple of kids, but by then I had left home, so I never even met my half siblings."

"That's why life here can be so much easier," Trinity told him, "There are no complications of lost family, just the occasional risk of death; only because we're in the middle of a war."

"Thanks for talking to me," Neo said sincerely.

"My pleasure," she gave him another small smile, "Any time you need to talk, my room's the one at the far end of the ship."

They stood together, an awkward silence briefly falling upon them before Trinity nodded to him and exited, taking both trays with her.

_Please feel free to review if you have the time- let me know if you want me to continue and how to improve._

_Thanx,_

_Joey xxx_


End file.
